My kitchen, nearby,is divided also the same;depending on whichend of the table I sit,I feast on a contrabandof smuggled salads.

My bed straddlesa vertical dissection—equal claims are madeon the halves on me;an eye, a lung, an arm, a leg,and paired organs—left brain, right brain,thoughts and deeds.

The Daily Palette Vintage

The Daily Palette is pleased to introduce its new Project Coordinator, Jennifer Erixon.

During the month of February we will feature selected artists and works from the Palette's archive.

JOHN BIRKBECK

John Birkbeck writes: "I was born in Iowa just as The Great Depression lurched in. The two events were only consequential and not causal, however. Most of my life was spent in endless roving about the world, trying to find a place where I might not necessarily fit in, but at least to find a niche."

This poem originally appeared in Volume 5, Number 6 of 100 Words, a journal published by the University of Iowa's International Writing Program between 1993 and 1998. Each piece in the journal had to be 100 words or fewer, and each issue had a theme. This issue's theme was "On Garden."